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Tuesday, 15 December 2015

Ooty Photo Diary

I wrote a post about Ooty before but I'm not going to link it here because I'm not particularly proud of it. I keep going back there because it is one of my favourite places to visit. It is a much smaller town than Bangalore, yet doesn't make me feel like I'm so far away from civilization. It's much quieter and life is slower and that's what I love most. I can easily forget about everything when I'm there.

Set in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu, Ooty provides an escape unlike any other. With spectacular views, clean, fresh air, and tea estates all around, this is the ultimate getaway in my books. Not to mention the abundance of pine trees and cold air that I would prefer over sunshine any day!

The sucky part of the trip was that my camera battery died on the way there. I had to rely on my phone alone so all of the pictures featured in this post were shot on my phone camera. All I can say is "I am so grateful for that software update that brought the battery save option! I cannot imagine life without it!"

Also, this trip happened way back in October which just goes to show how much I'm lagging behind with my blog posts. Blame it on real life and the taxing life that I live that involves waking up at 2pm and watching movies up until 4am with short breaks in between to order food. It's stressful. Don't judge me.

This time, I stayed at a Sterling Resort which is a little bit higher up in the hills than the central town area. This means that I got to wake up to a spectacular view in the morning, which completely made up for the cold! It was perfect for me because this time around I was there to relax and take in the environment and wasn't that much into sight seeing and all of that.

On this trip, I learnt that the Niligiri Hills are so named because the hills literally appear blue. The literal translation of "Nilgiri" is "blue hills" and I should have known that but my knowledge of Indian languages is abysmal! (Yes, I'm embarrassed and I'm working on it but this is a place of honestly and I will not lie to you.)

One of the most beautiful times of the day is sunset. All the colours really stand out when you're at a higher altitude and with the hills and the cold air, it really creates that sort of serenity that you only see in movies. These are the sunsets that tell you, in HD quality and heartbreaking honesty, that all that you worry about are fickle and silly. It is the moment where nothing else matters but the fact that you're alive enough to experience moments like these.

I always took the time out to enjoy the sunset at the hotel I was staying at. Usually, I took it in with a hot cappuccino and second-hand smoke. I also took it in with my camera because it would be stupid to let a moment like that pass me by!

I wasn't completely lazy on this trip. I also went to the Ooty Lake which is a popular tourist destination. They have all sorts of activities there but I refused to get on the boats even though I know how to swim (I was worried about dropping my phone in the lake!).

This lake was on of the bluest, cleanest lakes I've ever seen! It is so picturesque and beautiful, it's unreal! Almost like a dream. When I look at pictures of it now, I almost don't believe it myself.

Although I didn't get on a boat, I did get on the toy train that seemed to be running since before I was born. I love old things that have survived time and weather and this toy train did not fail to excite me. The graffiti covering every inch of free space of the interior was a reminder of all those people who had been on the train over the years.

Kudos to my momma for going along with my crazy ideas and giving in to my creativity and actually posing for my pictures.

We weren't there for too long this time but I knew that before I left I had to ride the Chaiya Chaiya train to Coonoor. It is one of those old fashioned coal-engine trains that are mostly still in use for tourist purposes. The view from the train was spectacular but I was more interested by the cotton candy guy who came with us to Coonoor to earn a day's wage in the larger markets of Coonoor.

Not to mention the train itself! Probably one of the cleanest trains under the giant umbrella that is Indian Railways. You will never see trains this clean anywhere else, but that's another experience that's worth all the trouble!

I was sad to leave my version of paradise but I know that it is a place I'd frequent a million times in the future.

For more pictures from my trip and other holidays since, check out my Instagram. I know it's a shameless plug but it'd my blog and I'll self promote to my heart's content!